


Better Brother

by Megchad22



Series: Honor cancels the apocalypse [4]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Handler is Daves mom, Luther Is a Good Brother, Lutherwas so lonely and that was 60 percent of his issues, M/M, Or he wants to be, There is a full time therapist, Time Travel, you can't tell me differnt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:28:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25639516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Megchad22/pseuds/Megchad22
Summary: Luther is working hard at being a better brother. Also there are people in the academy all time, he is so excited. In other news Dave meets his mother.
Relationships: Dave/Klaus Hargreeves
Series: Honor cancels the apocalypse [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1848868
Comments: 4
Kudos: 101
Collections: Finished faves





	Better Brother

**Author's Note:**

> This was fun to write, and done in less than a day.

Luther woke to the sound of distant banging and frustrated cursing. It sounded like Teresa, one of the three trained computer techs, was cursing out the strange machine that Luther was under strict orders never to touch. Luther was just about to drift back into sleep before a thought occurred to him. He hadn’t jumped at the sounds. They hadn’t echoes through his head as overwhelming.

It had felt blessedly...normal. 

Two years ago, when Reginald Hargreeves had died, the thought of being comfortable with noise in the Academy was unbelievable. Even when he had been fighting with Diego, everything echoed in his brain, rattling every nerve. Now nearly every room was filled, people were here.

Luther wasn’t alone. 

The Umbrella Academy had been transformed from a building of echoing silences where Luther rattled and bounced against nothing to teeming with life. Five had made the Umbrella Academy the headquarters for his branch of the Time Commission. Their mission was twofold, first to prevent time travelers from messing with the timeline but they also helped with protecting people that could not be helped through regular means. 

Events where having super strength was not massive overkill. Now Luther could be useful again, but this time he was not killing bank robbers. Luther got to go on missions where he was rescuing people buried in collapsed buildings. He got to fight against robots that could match his strength. He got to fight back to back with others who were also physically stronger, though he was still the strongest.

He got to be a person instead of a superhero. Most of the people who worked for Five were former time agents who were born in this time period. Others were members of the 43, adults who could have been in Luther's exact position. There were so many people with so many strange experiences that Luther was able to find things in common with many of them.

Luther even had a support group, formed with other Commission members like Carmichael whose bodies had abruptly been changed through the course of their duties. While he was the only one whose body was that of a gorilla, he did not feel alone. 

And wasn’t that a kick, he did not feel alone. He was even starting to forget what it felt like to have that hollow ache in his chest that echoes just like the Academy’s silence used to echo. He was so grateful to Five, whose leadership style showcased how badly Reginald treated them. 

Allison may have gone back West but now she actually called twice a month, they could chat for a while. It was actually chatting now, now just Luther desperate to hear another voice. He could tell stories of going to a bar with Hazel and Jeff (A member of the 43 club, as Klaus called it, whose power let him access the history of every object he touched) or hiking with Teresa. He could hear stories of Claire, of the latest man that had caught Allison's eye, of the latest movie that she was considering and not feel gutted by the fact that she had left. She had her own life and now he had his. 

He now saw Diego roughly twice a week. Sometimes his brother would be there for breakfast to visit with mom. Sometimes in passing as the former vigilante came to use the Gym. Every so often Luther would even go to one of his brother’s fighting matches. No one at the gym gave him a second look. They were still a touch more competitive than is truly healthy (at least that was what the full time, live in therapist that Five has on the payroll said) but now there was a playfulness that had been missing from much of their childhood. 

Sometimes the most surprising part was how close he had gotten to Klaus. When they were young he had listened to Reginald’s opinion too much to really see what his brother was going through. And Klaus, of all of them, was the one that still felt like his brother in the truest sense of the word. Luther had so much trouble in the beginning; realizing at last how little they meant to Reginald, trying to be the leader he very much wasn’t, feeling betrayed at everything that Pogo and Grace had hid from them. While their siblings had tried to help, they didn’t really try to understand; much like they had all tried to help Klaus with his addiction without trying to understand anything behind it. Klaus had been different though, he had listened and been patient when even Ben had scoffed at Luther’s naivety. Luther sometimes wondered if it was because this was how Klaus had hoped someone would listen to him. 

With Klaus came Dave. Who was probably one of Luther’s closest friends. He was like Klaus in that he listened not just to what Luther was saying, but what he was trying to say. It was also easier to talk to him (and Luther's actual therapist) about most of this because he did not have the same history with Reginald Hargreeves as they did. Klaus listened but Luther could see that sometimes even listening to what had happened hurt Klaus. And the last thing Luther actually wanted to do was hurt his brother. Dave was also the first one to push Luther into socializing with more than just family, the former soldier never admitted to it but Luther suspected that he was the reason there was a weekly board game night. 

His relationship with Five was strange. Though the boy looked 13 (He also attended the support group for messed up bodies) he was in his 60’s which put him at a very different point than Luther. He was also, technically, his boss. Frankly Luther often felt like Five was an uncle figure instead of his brother. If either of them had a better relationship with father figures, Luther might have even said he was like a father to him. Five would give him, and Klaus ro anyone of the 43 that happened to be around, advice on life or relationships. When Luther realized that he did not want to have a romantic partner it was Five he came out to first. It was Five’s acceptance that lifted a weight from his shoulders. 

Ben had forgiven him for the mission that led to his death. Had forgiven him all the little hurts towards their family in the years since. But the two of them had made the decision that they were not brothers. As brothers they had torn into each other, torn each other apart. The word and relationship was tainted between them. But they had grown into something better, they were friends. They could talk about books and space. Klaus’s little white pills let Ben be corporeal as long as they were within one city block of each other. 

Vanya was even more complicated than Ben and at times less. They had all spent so long ignoring her that, belittling her. It was the hardest habit to break. After two years they had finally gotten to the point where Luther and she could talk. It was still superficial but growing deeper. He knew that she had also grown closer to Klaus, the news of his death had been a shock to them all. A wake up call of the highest order. 

Luther entered the kitchen to see Klaus and Dave curled around each other, looking down at a pile of wedding magazines. It took everything in Luther not to coo at the picture they made. He was so happy for them. The couple had even talked to Luther about getting permission from Five to turn the room next to theirs, not the room Klaus had lived in as a child(They had since found out that room was trigger for a relapse) but one a floor down, into a child’s room so that they could eventually adopt. It helps that they were not the only Commission family living in the Academy. 

Luther had just sat down with his breakfast when Five flashed into the room. The grave, almost hesitant look on his face halted the question on Luther's tongue. Luther hoped that Five didn’t have bad news about the wedding guests. Klaus was so excited to have the whole 173rd there for the wedding. According to Klaus most had gone on to whatever came after, never showing up as a ghost. 

Five cleared his throat to get Klaus and Dave attention, “I have some news.”

Klaus peered at Five’s face before slumping slightly, “They can’t come.” he stated mournfully. 

Dave wrapped his arm around Klaus, also looking a little sad but said nothing. 

Five jolted like the thought hadn’t occurred to him, “No that should be fine. In fact The Handler said it was going to be a priority. The timing is a little tighter for Dave’s father but we should even be able to get him. No this is a little different.”

Luther had not seen Five this uncomfortable since they found Luther’s research under the floorboards. Let it be known that Five does not know how to handle a larger, younger brother bawling his eyes out because the foundations he had built his world on had shattered. Five had managed to have someone get Klaus, who took over comforting. 

The silence in the kitchen stretched and grew increasingly awkward until Klaus, who never met awkwardness that he didn’t want to tap dance on, broke it. “Unfortunately none of us are telepaths, that's Viv’s thing, you will have to actually speak your news.”

Five looked pained, Luther wondered if it was a reaction to Klaus being overdramatic (which was a possibility, even Klaus called Klaus overdramatic) or the news he had to give. Then Five squared his shoulder, put on a face that looked like he was staring at a wasteland all over again and asked Dave, “Do you want to meet you mother?”

Dave blinked, caulked his head, then blinked again, “The one that walked out when I was six?”

Luther thought he could hear strange emotions in Dave’s tone. He couldn’t tell what they were though. That was something he had been working on, actually recognizing and identifying others emotions. 

Five nodded at a speed that was almost a blur. Luther privately thought that Five might also need to work on emotions with Amanda, the therapist. “Yes.”

Dave’s face twisted and he leaned further on Klaus, “This is the woman that abandoned my dad and I. That he never got over. That I believe is the reason he wasn’t more careful and ended up dead before 40. That mother?”

Five winced. “So it may have been less abandoning and more getting...stuck. It really isn’t my story to tell.”

Getting stuck was the words Five used when talking about the Apocalypse he had been in for decades. Luther wondered if Dave's mother was also somehow caught in the apocalypse. Five had believed that he had been the only person left but it was a big planet, there could have been others.

The look on Dave’s face was not forgiving. It was pinched and in pain, “So the only way for me to know is to meet her.”

Five grimaced. Luther felt compelled to speak before this could get ugly, “It could be a good idea. You could get closure.”

Closure was one of the things that Amanda had talked to Luther about an awful lot. He liked the thought that Dave could also get closure for being abandoned, even if Five was right and it wasn’t on purpose. 

Dave tipped his head, resting on Klaus’s shoulder, to look at the ceiling. He breathed hard through his nose, just once. “Ok. I’ll talk to her. But just the once and she better have a damn good explanation.”

Five nodded again, “I’ll set it up and let you know.” then disappeared in a flash of white and blue. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Katherin Katz, known to almost everyone as The Handler, never showed her nerves. She had been leading the Time Commissions efforts for 500 years. Before that she had been a housewife and mother. 

She had always been able to take care of herself and others in a way that was at odds with everything she grew up with. Jacob, her beloved, had understood that about her. He had never pressed, never acted like he was there to protect her. Never tried to control her. They had been together for four years before Dave had been born and six years after, in that time he never raised his hand or his voice in anger. 

Many of her friends were not as lucky. Some were like her sister Lucy, carefully caked on makeup that every woman could see through and no one would call her on. Some, like her best friend Genevieve, gave up their dreams because it was not right for a woman to be smarter than her husband. 

She missed Jacob, often even more than she missed her son Dave. She loved Dave with every fiber of her soul but he had been six when she had left. He was still more idea than reality. Jacob, he had been part of her reality. And she has missed him for 500 years. 

She had learned never to show her nerves, never let anyone know her weakness. She had to be divorced from her feelings, they all did. How else could they survive as keepers of the timeline. For 300 years the Time Commission, including Kate, had to go into the world and its billions of people knowing that the survivor board read 100. 100, just 25 more people than the absolute minimum threshold for species survival. For 200 years after that, the survivor board dropped to 0. 

How does one explain that horror? The sheer and utter factual knowledge that there is nothing left to save compounded by the fact that every change can make things worse. Kate had survived countless attempts to stop the apocalypse. She had led the charge that dropped the world population from 80% dead to 100 survivors. She had watched that count drop from 100 to zero in utter shock.

How can someone explain the eager excitement that came from watching 0 become 1. Still non viable, still the end of the human race. But it was the only change in the correct direction. 

Now she paced her office, vibrating with nerves and anger. For her it had been nearly two months since she had spoken to Five. In that time she had figured out who had ordered the murder of her son and why. 

And there was not a damn thing she could do about it. 

Fucking Hargreeves.

The bastard Reginald had noted her son, a child whose existence was only due to time travel intervention. No one, not even Kate, knew how time traveling played into Dave’s existence but his presence echoed in the timeline nonetheless. She didn’t even know if the bastard realized who Dave was to her. 

From the notes they found it was apparently an experiment. He had noted the way time echoed around her son. (Born of time travel to love a time traveler.) He had hidden the kill order in a file for Vietnam in 1968. Where was not found until the review done when Klaus Hargreeves used the briefcase to time travel. 

The case manager had simply filed the paperwork. 

From what anyone could gather that was part of the catalyst for stopping the end of the world. Because her son died, because her son loved and was loved by Klaus Hargreeves, because Klaus Hargreeves survived an impressive amount of torture (Kate may have looked up Klaus Hargreeves complete file. He was marrying her son after all) the world didn’t end.

And now she was about to meet her only child. 

Five had already warned her that her little boy was not impressed. That did not make it hurt any less when he had walked stiffly in, one arm wrapped around a thin man that had to be his Klaus. Five was escorting them and shot her a look of sympathy. 

Five would understand better than most. 

“You look so much like your father.” The words tumbled from her mouth without conscious thought. 

Anger tightened Dave’s eyes. “And you look like the picture he had hanging on the wall until the day he died.”

The worst possible thing for Kate to do was laugh, and she managed to hold it in. Because that, that answer was entirely her. Dave did get something from her after all. 

“I am sorry” she managed. 

The anger didn’t soften, but he was careful as he and Klaus sat on her office couch. Klaus was curled into him, comforting him. “I didn’t come here for an apology.” Her returned softly, his anger still audible(Fuck if that wasn’t from her as well. It took monumental things for her Jacob to get angry. She's not sure even this would qualify. ), “I came here for answers.”

Kate closed her eyes and nodded. As she opened them she sat behind her desk. It killed her that she could not get closer to her son or his fiance but it felt like if she did, they would take it as an attack. “I didn’t mean to leave for good. It was supposed to be a few days at most.I guess Abigail never realized what the machine would do.”

Klaus was studying her while Dave remained silent. “Abigail?” Klaus prompted. 

Kate nodded, “She found a time machine in the rubble of the city on April 16th 2019. She had been searching for her brother. There were some notes on what it was.”

Dave frowned, “I thought there was no one left after the apocalypse, that’s what Five said.” 

Kate grimaced, “By the time Five was caught in it, that was true. When Abigail first found the time machine it was three nuclear missiles that hit the City. Her brother died and she wanted to fix it. The notes were enough to get it working; trial and error brought her all over the place. Including our home about 6 months before I left. She left the notes and made me promise to try and fix things if she failed. It took me those 6 months to build the machine. I made sure you were with the neighbors that day, just in case it took me a few days. I was supposed to go to April 2nd, to check but I didn’t celebrate correctly. Instead of taking me through time, it pushed me through to this place, outside of normal time.”

“Why not come back?” Dave countered

“At first I needed to fix the device, by the time I did I realized that what had been the destruction of a single city was now so much worse. Based on how things went, we think that others tried to interfere; to stop the bombs. We think that the mistakes I made in building the machine, combined with the nuclear explosion actually created this place. Because there were other time travelers trying to get to the same day and time, all that energy built up so that instead of traveling to the point of a nuclear explosion and being vaporized it converted the nuclear energy to push me outside of time. This place formed itself around.”

Klaus caulked his head, “You think? I feel like that is something that should be known instead of guessed.”

Kate’s laugh was an ugly thing torn from her throat, “In five hundred years we have not managed to piece together what was going on. Based solely on the energy readings we managed to gather there were no less than 11 timeline collapsing into each other when I was pushed out.”

Dave startled, at last looking something other than angry, “500 years?”

She smiles at her son, watching curiosity overtake anger. That was all Jacob. “500 years, give or take a month or two. Being outside time means that all time works weirdly, including personal time. I say 500 years because the chronometer set up that we think ticks about once per second, has ticked 15,724,800,000.”

Dave had dropped from curiosity into sadness, “Is that why you didn’t come back? It was too long ago for you? You forgot us.”

Kate swallowed even as Klaus pulled Dave close. “No. I didn’t forget.” She whispered. She watched Dave freeze and knew he heard her. “Time travel...scars the timeline. Once one person has travelled to a particular time and sometimes place, it is harder for others to do the same. Something about the machine, since Five does not leave the same kind of scaring. What I did. Whatever I did...really scarred the timeline. No time machine can get within 10 years of that point anywhere in the world, either past or future. I” and now her voice chose that moment to break slightly. “I cannot get within 60 years of the day I left. I am so sorry.”

For a moment the office faded out and Kate was back just after they dropped the survivor count to 100. She had taken a briefcase, intending to go to her family. To his day she does not know whether she would have stayed with them in the time stream or pulled them back. Her stomach had clenched as she realized nothing had happened. It had been 94,348,800 clicks of the chronometer before she had given in. She had put away the family that was out of her reach.

Only now her family had found her, Dave looked her over carefully. Then he smiled, and just like that she knew she had been forgiven. They still had mountains of issues to work around but maybe she would get a chance to earn her seat at his wedding. A thoughtful look crossed his face. “If we pulled Dad from just before his accident, would we be able to fake it well enough that he would be able to stay with you?”

Wait...What.

**Author's Note:**

> I very much head cannon Luther as affection starved and very bad at making choices. His actions in cannon are not great and his default seems to be asshole but that kind of describes all of them (except Dave who has not done anything wrong ever). I feel like if Luther stopped feeling like he was alone all the time, probably since before Ben died, he would blossom. I also think that he would certainly have an issue loyalty to the point of naivety to the first person that he perceives as kind to him. He has issues but he is in therapy.


End file.
